Tips for Teaching Reading - for ALL ages!

Teaching reading can be a daunting task - especially for parents with no teaching background! I remember when my children were young I really wished that I had the knowledge and the tools to teach them to read. So I wanted to provide some tips for teaching reading to the visual learner/struggling reader! These tips are appropriate for ALL ages of readers.

Tips When Teaching Reading:

• Understand your child’s preferred style of learning (visual, auditory or tactile).
• Focus on using the whole-word approach first for visual learners.
• Only after mastery of the whole single word should you then show how the word is broken down into letters and sounds.
• Begin introducing words to which your child can associate a visual representation (i.e. food they are familiar with, names of people they know, etc.)

Keys to Success:

• When using flashcards, flash them quickly! (Approximately one second per word is all that is needed).
• Ensure the flashcards are large enough and colourful enough to have a visual impact.
• Begin with a well-organized plan that will be included in a day-to-day routine.
• Do not test the child or ask them to repeat the words as you present them! This can cause anxiety and then your child may not want to participate anymore.
• Keep your program moving along – do not be too repetitive just because you think they are not processing the information quickly enough.
• Avoid presenting similar looking words together, as this can be confusing (i.e. Grandma, Grandpa).

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions!

Teaching Reading Early

Many of the blogs and social networks that I read and/or participate in online center around Down syndrome or Autism due to my own interests. Whether children are typical or have differing abiliites, it is important to teach reading as early as possible.

Here are some important points to keep in mind with regards to teaching reading:

1. If a child can learn sign language, they are ready to read! A sign is simply a visual representation of a word - which is exactly what reading using the whole-word approach is.
2. Just because a child is not ready to speak does not mean they are not ready to read. Remember that input and output are two different processes!
3. Teaching reading early increases brainpower!
4. Teaching reading increases your child's ability to communicate.
5. Teaching reading can teach talking and/or improve speech and language development. (Speech Pathologists and Therapists tend to love eReadingPro!)
6. Teaching reading is an important intervention for helping children overcome learning difficulties.
7. You can easily begin teaching children to read at 2 years of age.

It is so important for parents to understand that teaching reading can be easier than they may otherwise think. My next blog will provide pointers on how to teach reading - for ALL ages!

eReadingPro goes to Riverside, Ohio

eReadingPro is going to Riverside, Ohio on Saturday, September 27th, 2008! The 3 hour workshop, hosted by the Dayton Autism Society, will begin at 9:30am at the Miami Valley Regional Center, 3rd Floor, 1801 Springfield Street, Riverside, OH 45431. The cost of the workshop is $10.

TO REGISTER, click here. We hope to see you there!

World Peace

One of the things that I dream about is the possibility of world peace. What an amazing concept, but one that seems so difficult to accomplish!

Well one of my good friends in Florida, Betsy, has started making jewellry - simple, fun and all handmade silver jewellry. When she was showing me her work, the piece that jumped out at me the most was her pendant called 'World Peace' (pictured here). I just LOVE IT! Needless to say I am now donning a world peace pendant as I write this, lol.

If you would like to make a small personal statement about world peace, I urge you to purchase one of these beautiful pendants yourself, and spread the word! Her jewellry is called 'Be' and can be found at: http://www.be-jewelryandcrafts.com/index.html. This link will also be added to the Resources page at eReadingPro!

New Look!

We are so excited about our new look!

Up until now, eReadingPro has been depleting the remaining stock of reading kits from the former Out of the Box Reading entity. However, with only a few of these remaining, we are about to launch our new look. The picture to the left is our new book cover! It is going to print this week, and should be available soon.

Keep in mind that the content is the same. All of the faithful users of the Out of the Box Reading kits are not missing out on a thing - it is still the same amazing reading program as before!

Downi Creations

My 12 year old daughter Melissa was reading my MacLean's magazine today - the one I just wasn't finding the time to finish. (I'm always bringing home t-shirts from various Down syndrome organizations that she wears everywhere with great pride. She loves to be an advocate for kids with different needs - just like her mom!) So when she came upon an article about Down syndrome, she marched into my office to show me and said "look Mom, they have dolls with Down syndrome!"

After reading the article (from the August 18th, 2008 Volume 121, Number 32 edition of MacLeans, Page 61), I had to sit back and realize what a difficult world it is that we live in. While the idea of creating a doll that has "the 13 distinct features" typically associated with individuals with Down syndrome was probably done with only the best of intent, there are actually people that are offended by this gesture! The article states that the dolls have "provoked a wide range of opinions" - some feel it is "patronizing and sick", while others (like me) feel it is "incredibly sweet". Personally, I recognize that someone has put a great deal of thought into something that was probably inspired by their own child, and intended to enhance their life. How can that possibly be a negative thing?

You can check the dolls out at Downi Creations and decide for yourself.